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Watering Hole: Thursday, November 27, 2014 – The Day for Turkey

For many of us non-vegetarians, today is the big “turkey day” of the year. Some of us, spend this day with family and friends, some of us spend this day by ourself, and some of us spend this day giving and helping others.

No matter how you spend the day, turkey is often the highlight of the meal. Even vegetarians enjoy a Tofurky. Personally, I’m not much of a fan of Tofurky. To each their own 🙂 .

At our place, when the meal is done, Mr. Nonewhere starts working on the beginnings of turkey soup. It is cold and damp in the Northwest and in the Northeast of this nation. I understand that it gets cold and damp in other parts, too (hee, hee). Nothing warms the inners like soup in the winter and turkey makes a great soup starter. So to help you with some recipe ideas, here is a link to some yummy turkey soup recipes.

This is our Open Thread. Speak Up and let us know how your day is going.

Kenneth C. Davis credits Lincoln with issuing “the first two in an unbroken string of presidential Thanksgiving proclamations,” but notes that “the elevation of Thanksgiving to a true national holiday [was] a feat accomplished by Franklin D. Roosevelt.” He reminds us that Americans initially found Roosevelt’s holiday politically polarizing:

“In 1939, with the nation still struggling out of the Great Depression, the traditional Thanksgiving Day fell on the last day of the month – a fifth Thursday. Worried retailers, for whom the holiday had already become the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season, feared this late date. Roosevelt agreed to move his holiday proclamation up one week to the fourth Thursday, thereby extending the critical shopping season.

Some states stuck to the traditional last Thursday date, and other Thanksgiving traditions, such as high school and college football championships, had already been scheduled. This led to Roosevelt critics deriding the earlier date as “Franksgiving.” With 32 states joining Roosevelt’s “Democratic Thanksgiving, ” 16 others stuck with the traditional date, or “Republican Thanksgiving.” After some congressional wrangling, in December 1941, Roosevelt signed the legislation making Thanksgiving a legal holiday on the fourth Thursday in November. And there it has remained.”

I am finding it very difficult to watch football these days. My disillusionment over Adrian Peterson casually beating his children is part of it but the fan reaction really put me off. After reading through endless pages of comments from football fans who think it’s admirable to beat a child with a weapon I decided that I would rather not be associated with that particular group.

I think I will eventually be able to enjoy watching football again but, for now, I have a spirited cat I can play with, a Hulu account, model airplanes to build, and a large music collection to fill my leisure time.